Monday, January 16, 2012

Pages and Pins

Books...love them!  Bless my two daughters because they know that books are high on my wish list whenever gifts are called for.  This year I received several wonderful books - a large tome on contemporary fashion/designers; a beautiful coffee table book on historical gowns - all made of paper;  and...
 
... my favorite, hands down is Savage Beauty, which was published by the MET in conjunction with their Alexander McQueen exhibit.

The book grabs you from the cover, which is a holographic image of a skull, which morphs into McQueen's face.  In light of his tragic passing last year, I find this cover poignant, and just a touch creepy.
 
above image courtesy of Amazon.ca (I could NOT capture this with my camera last night)

Tilt the book slightly and Alexander's face appears
 
 I find this image haunting, perhaps because of his death by suicide, but the pain and conflict he must have been going through seems so apparent.
 
The body of this large (240 pages) book is packed with stunning images of his genius in design.  There is also text, however I confess that I have not read any of it yet.  Here  is just a tiny sampling:



The second book that I wanted to mention was given to me this weekend by my daughter Keara.  She and her bf just returned from a week in Vegas where they took in a Cirque du Soleil show.  If you have never seen one of C du S's shows, do yourself a favour and go!  And, if you do go to one, pick up this book as it is packed full of inspiration for figures and costumes...
 
 
25 Years of Costumes ...152 pages profiling the extravagant costuming in their various shows over the past 25 years.  Eye candy!



 My passion for books like this is two fold.  They feed my love of fashion (particularly vintage which influences so much of contemporary fashion) and they also provide so much inspiration for my dolls.

As to the "Pins" part of my blog title.  Yesterday I joined Pinterest.  Amazing, amazing site!  There is so much to see and be warned that time will quickly slip away from you.  It is addicting.  The great thing is that if you see an image or idea on the internet, you can 'pin' it to your own personal virtual bulletin board(s) so that you have instant access to it.  I often see things that I bookmark, and then have trouble finding since my list is so long (and NOT very organized).  You can also view 1,000's of other members Pins from everything from food to art to decorating to crafts,  and repin to your own board if you wish.  Very, very cool!  Check it out.  :)



12 comments:

Pearl said...

Hey Women, check your mail from me please. I got addicted to Pinterest about 3 months ago and love it! Now that room of yours will never get cleaned :) The books you have are so cool, I have always wanted to see Cirq and will one day. They look so facinating. I like these coffee table books also. Have fun going to Pinterest.

Healing Woman said...

Love the books and they seem so well suited to you. I can just imagine the fabulous costumes your dolls will be wearing soon.

Sea Gypsy said...

The books look so interesting,inspiring and just fun to look at. I joined Pinterest today, and yes it does look like fun. I have visited blogs that have a button you can put on your blog, but I could not find one. Did you see anything like that? I will try to find you and Pearl!

Textile and Stitch said...

Wonderful books, I was completely obsessed with McQueen when I was in fashion school. Such incredible vision and talent! I've been meaning to check out Pinterest. I'm home sick today, maybe today's the day :)

Dorthe said...

Hi dear Sue,
those books are realy stunning, and Alexander McQueen, was a master creater,of the most spectacular robes,- I so see how interesting it is for you, when creating dresses for your fabolous dolls.
I do use Firefox for commenting Sue , just started on that yesterday, and it gives no problems so far- but I wish bloggers will change to pop up comment bars- then there are also no problems.
Thankyou for writing dear.
Hugs,Dorthe

Lynn Stevens said...

Such wonderful books full of inspiration, no wonder there high on your list.
Pinterest yes its very cool and you can spend many hours if your not careful, very addicting! LOL
Hugs Lynn

Dianie said...

O' my... Beautiful books!
I love all gorgeous pics.

Pinterest is SOooooooooooo addicting! I love it.
People are amazing with thier ideas:)

hugs,
~Diane

Denise Bledsoe said...

Hi Sue,
A friend just emailed me the link to your Pinterest Art Doll page and when I saw your name, I thought I should write to tell you that I've always admired your work and sweet faces you create. You and I did a show in Corning, NY maybe 18 years ago or so. Hopefully our paths will cross at a show again one day. Until then, keep up your beautiful, whimsical work!

Marcie Hart - A Work Of Hart said...

Hey there Sue! Popping in to say "Howdy" I love books too. The Cirque Du Soleil looks wonderful. May have to get that one too down the road! LOL Have a great day. See you over on FB ;-)

angela recada said...

These look like fabulous books. I can see where you'd be inspired by them in your doll-making.

Haha! Pinterest! I've resisted starting with that (up to now :D) because I've also had a tumblr blog for over a year that sucks me in for hours at a time on some days. There is little time left to actually DO something on such days.

Happy pinning!
xoxoxo

Carol Roll said...

Great books and wonderful inspiration for your beautiful art dolls!
Circ Du Soleil is AWSOME! I'm definitely gonna check out Pinterest.

Vicki/Jake said...

I have seen Cirq and was in awe...
Enjoy your great books full of eye candy. Pintrest? Not there yet, but who knows. I may need a new addiction soon:)